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Manning has "lot of work to do" on neck, but Broncos know

New gunslinger wants to win — now

John Elway and Peyton Manning are all smiles Tuesday at Broncos headquarters. Denver's new quarterback said he is not 100 percent healthy, but he was honest with teams bidding for him and wanted his contract to protect the Broncos if neck troubles resurface. "It wasn't great throwing," Manning said of his workouts for teams. "It's not supposed to be great, because I'm not where I want to be." (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Eventually, the thrill subsides, euphoria loses some steam and reality checks in. Peyton Manning is officially the Broncos' quarterback. Incredible. Manning has the Broncos believing they are instantly a Super Bowl contender. Unbelievable.

Manning has a ways to go before he's 100 percent healthy.

Say what?

"I have some strength that I have to get back," Manning said Tuesday in a private conversation with Denver Post reporters.

This is not to scare the Broncos. They're not frightened, because they know. Manning told them everything. The superstar quarterback even may have been the first free agent in NFL history to negotiate terms into his contract that could potentially cost him — and save the team — millions of dollars.

It's no secret Manning has a neck issue. He has undergone four neck surgeries in little more than a year, which is the reason he missed all of last season with the Indianapolis Colts and eventually was released to free agency.

Yes, the occasional thought crossed Manning's mind that he might not play again.

"Yeah, you just sort of process it," he said. "I think this process showed that if this was easy, then it would tell you that it didn't really matter that much to me in Indianapolis. All I know is whatever team I'm on, I'm all in with it."

Manning didn't hide his neck condition with teams pursuing him. He put his entire medical history on a disc and gave it to all suitors. He threw for teams interested in signing him, bum neck and all.

While John Elway and Ruston Webster, the front-office bosses for the Broncos and Tennessee Titans, respectively, sent out statements last week that flattered Manning's throwing audition, the executives, at best, left out some truth and, at worst, told a white lie.

"John said it was great," Manning said. "It wasn't great throwing. It's not supposed to be great because I'm not where I want to be. I just said: 'Here it is, guys. If you're not interested, you're not hurting my feelings. You've got to tell me.' It bothers me that I don't feel the way I want to feel.

Peyton Manning faces the media at Tuesday's news conference. The quarterback will spend a lot of time with Broncos strength-and-conditioning coach Luke Richesson and trainer Steve Antonopulos to come back from a year off the field. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

"I have a lot of work to do. I'm not where I need to be."

The Broncos signed Manning to a five-year, $96 million contract, but the story is in the details. Only the first-year $18 million in salary is fully guaranteed. His $20 million salaries for 2013 and 2014 will be guaranteed unless the neck prevents Manning from playing. The fourth- and fifth-year salaries are not guaranteed.

"I'll say this, Peyton was great about giving us protection against his neck," Elway said.

In terms of what football agents, players and accountants would classify as "real money," Manning took a substantial pay cut from his previous deal with the Indianapolis Colts.

He got $26.4 million without playing a down for the Colts last year — 32 percent more than his first-year salary with the Broncos. He was to make $61.8 million after two years with the Colts, $23.8 million more than what the Broncos are planning to pay out through 2013.

"They've got to be protected," Manning said. "That's why the whole medical — I was as open a book as I could be. I told them exactly how I feel, what I was working on. They have to know everything to make their decision.

"Even today, at the last minute, I said, 'John, put it the way you want it.' He and I talked about that from the get-go, on that first visit. You don't want to start off on a bad foot. I kind of argued with them a little bit, on their side. Nobody believes that when you say that. But it's got to be what they're comfortable with."

Broncos QB Tim Tebow (Denver Post file photo)

The reassuring news for Broncos fans is that Manning has been told by three doctors, from three separate medical teams, that he will fully recover. And even if he doesn't, the sentiment among Elway, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and coach John Fox is that Manning at 90 percent strength, or even 75 percent strength, is better than almost any other NFL quarterback.

So how did Manning go from a quarterback who needed only 13 seasons to reach No. 3 on the NFL's all-time list in touchdown passes, yards and completions, to one whose cursed number became four? As in four surgeries.

When a neck undergoes four surgeries, it prompts the question: Did somebody mess up the first one?

"No, I went through that history too," Manning said. "I don't think there was a mistake made there. It was just the way it worked out. I haven't played that game on anybody. The Broncos had to make a projection, just like the other teams did. And they all kind of made the same projection. It couldn't happen soon enough for me."

Manning said his most important coaches in the next month, or six months, will be new strength-and-conditioning coach Luke Richesson and longtime trainer Steve "Greek" Antonopulos. The Greek will be consulting with the Colts' trainer to compare notes on how to best to treat Manning's strength and nerve issue.

If Manning recovers in the next three months as well as he's come along in the past three, the Broncos will have the Manning that is among the league's elite quarterbacks.

"The worst question some guys get, they ask these draft choices, 'What are you going to do with the money you just made?' " Manning said. "And they will say they're going to buy this and buy that. And I'm sitting there saying, 'I'm going to try and go earn it.' "

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.